“We have over 40 lost national IDs, driving permits and credit cards. If you have lost or know someone that has lost one, check with Voice of Kigezi reception in working hours,” reads a notice posted on a social page for this local radio station in South Western Uganda.
Imagine how thousands of Ugandans who have lost IDs, driving permits and credit cards would want to travel to Kabale to check if their documents are among the 40. Imagine going through the jostling at the congested reception only to find that yours was not among these few IDs.
If you have ever gone through the hassle of finding your lost document, imagine how easier the search for that missing National ID, passport or any other document of value would have been if we had one central place we would go to report our lost or stolen document, then wait for anyone who found it to just alert us.
Imagine yourself not having to incur transport costs to check at every police station’s noticeboard or having to pay for local radio announcements.
You don’t have to imagine anymore. There is already a tool that Ugandan innovators have successfully developed to help you easily find your lost documents.
THE ZZULA APP
With Zzula App, all the radio station or any individual who would come across such lost documents would have to do is to check for one’s details and reach out to them. In other words, locating the owners of these lost IDs, driving permits and credit cards would have been easier and quicker had these people registered the same on the app.
The police and other government agencies would also need to do the same for the IDs and other documents people mistakenly leave in these offices. The same would apply to those hundreds of National Identification cards and passports that were found hidden in Lubigi Swamp in August 2022.
So, how does this app work and how does it make it easier for one to find that lost document that is of so much value.
Designed by Michael and Paul Systems, Zzula is a social security app that allows one to register one’s documents, particularly their serial numbers, so that in case one misplaces or loses them, one can change the status of the document to LOST.
Those who come across one’s lost item then come and punch the details of the document into the system, and reach out to one to pick the document. After this, one can change the status of one’s document from LOST to SAFE.
What this really means is that instead of the radio station manager putting up a notice for people they have not named to come and pick their lost IDs – and having thousands troop to their reception – all s/he would have to do is to check the details of the documents on Zzula app and share the list of names of the people whose documents have been found. The same would also have helped in the case of Lubigi Swamp documents, those misplaced in taxis or buses, at offices or in restaurants.
The Zzula app has been approved by Google Play Protect, indicating that it is safe, secure and respects users’ privacy. Michael Rutaremwa, one of the developers of the Zzula app, explained that although one saves the key details of their documents on the application, these are not visible to anyone else apart from the owner as long as the documents are safe. When they are lost, some details are made public to help in the search.
It is important to note that Zzula works for only those who have registered their documents in the app.
All you have to do is to download the Zzula app (one whose developer is Michael and Paul Systems) from Playstore or Appstore, do a quick sign up, then register your crucial document details such as IDs on Zzula and you will be on the social security network.
IN BRIEF
Download the Zzula app on Playstore or Appstore
Sign up.
Register details of your crucial document such as IDs on Zzula and be on the social security network.
Change the status to LOST if you lose them.
Allow other users to see the details of the missing document so they can help you in the search.
Let the search continue until someone has found the document with the same details as yours.
Return the document’s status to SAFE.
You can read more on the Zzula App HERE.
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